


Each Memory a Thread of Tapestry

by Morgyn Leri (morgynleri)



Series: Lies, Misdirection, and Terrible Truth [28]
Category: Mythology - Fandom, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: GFY, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-20
Updated: 2012-11-20
Packaged: 2017-11-19 03:40:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/568678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morgynleri/pseuds/Morgyn%20Leri
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"It's the same dream, over and over again."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Each Memory a Thread of Tapestry

_The growl is almost constant, a low, threatening sound that makes the dark more fearful, if he weren't certain who it was growling. The why is less obvious until he finds a blade in the dark, cold steel wet with blood. Driven into the stone beneath the jaws of the wolf, holding him bound to this place until Ragnorak. A thin ribbon wraps around the wolf, binding it to this form rather than any other, that will not yield to the magic that sparks at his fingertips._

Clint wakes with a harsh gasp, a snarl on his own lips at the nightmare, the dream that felt too real to be made from stories and fears. Coulson said they would pass, Loki had mocked him, and he isn't sure he actually wants to talk to anyone else about them. He'll have to, before they drive him insane, but he still hesitates to do so.

_A throne of gold holds a man that is both his father and not, a stern-faced man whose anger all but beats against him. That does bring down the lash against his back - a back that is and isn't his own. Punishment for a transgression he does not regret, a brief memory of a pale northern face with black hair and green eyes. To teach a stranger what he has is forbidden, but he cannot regret it, even as he is beaten and cast from the gates of the place he once called home._

Tony can still feel every welt the whip raised on his back when he wakes up, though an inspection in the mirror reveals nothing but unmarked, unbroken skin. He wonders if he might get a straight answer if he asks Anat about it, but he doesn't hope. She's supposed to return - her and Loki - to their apartment in Manhattan tomorrow. He'll wait another day after to go ask her more questions.

_Around her, people fall, mortals and gods alike as one side fights to destroy the other. A battle spilled over from their own realm to this one, that will destroy them all if it continues much longer. She laughs, gathering the magic in both hands, letting it run through her as she dances, spinning and still at the center of the field. Her enemies fall, blood and screams as they die, their emblems brought to her feet in a storm of crows._

"It's the same dream, over and over again." Natasha keeps her hands wrapped tightly around the mug of vodka-laced coffee, though she hasn't drunk any of it since Coulson handed it to her. She doesn't like the feeling of vulnerability, and is ruthlessly trying to shove it back in a box.

"They'll pass." Coulson gives her a small smile that is anything but reassuring. "I don't know how long it will take, but they do pass."

She watches him for a long moment. "How long did you dream?"

Coulson's smile is a bland mask over whatever he's feeling. "I'm afraid that's classified on a need-to-know basis, Agent Romanov." He won't tell her here, where SHIELD can overhead, or Stark. Some other time, then, when she can get him out where they're not likely to be overheard.

_He dreams, familiar dreams of quiet words and a warm room. Indistinct conversations kept in the depths of his mind where they are safe from the risk of another's prying. The dreams never leave completely, but he doubts either of those who've admitted to having them are ready for them to be anything more than what they already are. Eventually, they'll find their own balance. And then he'll talk to them about the dreams properly._


End file.
